-
Inadequately resourced gender structures.
Budgetary policies to affect men and women differently due to the various role and capacities each has in the society. It is therefore important that relevant stakeholders adopt the Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) by integrating gender perspectives into all steps of the budget process, including but not limited to, planning, drafting, implementing and evaluating, to ensure that budget policies take into consideration the gender issues in the society. Gender-Responsive Budget is a strategic approach to the assessment of the role of budgets in promoting gender equality and to bridge persistent inequalities between women and men, and facilitate development by integrating gender issues into macroeconomic policy and budgets. (ILO, 2006).
The African Union Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2018-2028) advocates for capacity building for GRB at regional and national level as well as undertake a gender budget audit of the African Union expenditure with a view to enhancing GRB within the organisation. This would enable the WGYD to cost and advocate for resources in the first three categories on Gender Management System, Employment Equity and Targeted Gender Interventions. Costing of the processes related to the strategy and the Gender Management System and Employment Equity within the African Union form part of the action plan.
According to UNESCO (2010), Gender Responsive Budgeting is generally important for the following reasons:
-
GRB creates understanding and illustrates the existence of inequality in budgetary impacts between men and women.
-
It increases accountability and accelerates the implementation of commitments to gender equality and human rights.
-
It increases the efficiency of government budgets by allowing better informed financial resource allocations. If gender inequalities in budgetary impacts are not recognized, this could lead to losses in terms of productivity, quality of the labour force, economic growth, and health.
-
GRB increases the effectiveness of both policies and programmes by assessing whether the stated objectives are achieved.
-
GRB leads to transparency, accountability, predictability and participation in budget making.
Patriarchal Norms
Across the globe, patriarchal social norms (values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and practices) condone and perpetuate unequal power relations between women and men; undermining women’s economic, social, legal and political rights; denying them voice, choice and control over their bodies; lives and livelihoods. Reinforced in formal and informal ways, gender inequality begins in the home; is perpetuated by the family; schools; work place; community, custom, culture, religion and tradition as well structures within society more broadly–the media, new media, popular culture, advertising, laws, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and others.
While society generally identifies other forms of inequality, gender inequality is so normalised that it often goes unnoticed, including by women who have been socialised to accept their inferior status. Gender inequality follows the life cycle of most women from cradle to grave. Despite changes in laws and Constitutions, many women remain minors all their lives – under their fathers, husbands, even sons, and as widows subject to male relatives. Gender inequality is a violation of human rights that for the most part goes unnoticed because it is so normalised.
In most African societies men enjoy the benefits of male privilege but they also share with women experiences of disenfranchisement, indignity and subordination as a result of diverse and persistent political, social and economic oppressions. Gender analysis of African masculinities exposes the myth of a singular African masculinity. Africa’s colonial past, patriarchal cultural structures and a variety of religious and knowledge systems has created masculine identities that may seem strong but can also be limiting for men. In 1994, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD, Cairo) affirmed the importance of involving men in improving sexual and reproductive health, and emphasised the need to increase men’s involvement in the care of children. The 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2004 recognised that men and boys can and do make contributions to achieve gender equality. Dismantling patriarchy is no longer seen by all men as a win-lose proposition. They look to the history and experience of the feminist and women’s movement to inspire them in their own struggles.
Women's Political Participation in Africa key indicators 2021. Source,
Poverty.
Far too many African women are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. In order to break the cycle of poverty, hunger and exclusion, several priority and foundational areas of human development need to be finished. They include women’s sexual and reproductive health, jobs, education, food security and nutrition. Africa and the world have committed to leaving “no one behind and achieving zero hunger” between 2030 and 2063. These unresolved issues must therefore be brought to closure to deflect risks of reversing the gains and harnessing the demographic dividends. Women are asking for solutions which not only increase their productivity but create wealth and enable them engage more actively in citizenry. Agenda 2063 is designed to respond to such calls for action. It has set ambitious targets and defined innovative strategies to maximize the benefits of development, remove major hurdles to integration and endow the continent with essential support infrastructure. At the same time, Africa’s population landscape is rapidly changing. The youth population is the largest in the world and set to double by 2040. There is also growing pressure from the realities on an ageing population and lifestyle induced diseases. These pressures and realities require that the GEWE is broadened and speaks to the needs of a multi-faceted landscape.
Gendered economies.
In most of the countries in the continent, women constitute the highest proportion of the unemployed, while those employed are concentrated in low paying positions. Most women work in the informal sector; in casual, part-time and non-permanent jobs. Women in Africa remain the majority of the poor, the dispossessed, the landless, the unemployed, those working in the informal sector, and those shouldering the burden of care, especially where war, hunger and disease have weakened state capacity and responses. On the other hand, African women have shown tremendous resilience; they run their own businesses that need to be recognised and taken to scale. Women’s and girls’ carry an unequal share of Unpaid Care and Domestic work (UCDW); this poses a serious constraint to their empowerment. On average, women spend twice as much time as men on domestic work, which includes child and elderly care, domestic work, and fetching water and wood.
Violence Against Women and Girls
High levels of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) are at odds with the Agenda 2063 vision of “human security and a sharp reduction in violent crime.” Women in Africa continue to experience intimate partner violence (physical and/or sexual) or non-partner sexual violence or both, the highest prevalence in the world. VAWG has important public health dimensions because of the mental and physical consequences, and the public health sector provides a key entry point for survivors.
Women in conflict areas are especially at risk of displacement, violence and rape. New forms of gender violence, such as trafficking, are also on the rise. Demographic health surveys show how Violence Against Women and Girls has become normalised in many countries. For example, many women agree that domestic violence is justified on certain grounds. In 2016, In Guinea and Mali, more than 75% of women report acceptance of wife beating as a normal practise. Change of attitudes remains key in eliminating Violence Against Women and Girls yet programmes tend to be reactive rather than preventive.
Harmful practices.
Harmful practices such as cultural practices which affect the status, dignity and health of women and which often constitute violence against women include virginity tests, son preference, early marriage, and harmful widowhood practices like forcing a widow to marry her brother in law. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practiced among certain communities. By 2050, nearly 1 in 3 births worldwide will occur in many countries in Africa where FGM is concentrated, and nearly 500 million more girls and women will be living in these countries than there are today.
Key facts from on FGM (WHO 2020)
-
Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
-
The practice has no health benefits for girls and women.
-
FGM can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
-
More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated.
-
FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
-
FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
-
Treatment of health complications of FGM in 27 high prevalence countries costs 1.4 billion USD per year.
Dual legal systems.
Dual legal systems accord women some rights through general law and withhold others on the basis of traditional, customary and some religious beliefs and practices, denying women their fundamental rights .These contradictions affect women’s access to property, in particular land and housing as well as the domestic sphere of marriage, divorce and child custody. The systems also affect inheritance in cases of divorce or spousal death. Promoting gender equality in legislative frameworks, practices and attitudes fosters inclusive and dynamic economies, particularly important for the continent’s development ambitions.
Access to justice.
Agenda 2063 sets out a vision for “timely access to independent courts and judiciary that deliver justice without fear or favour.” Most of the laws protecting women’s rights lack proper enforcement due to lack of resources, political will, commitment and accountability. Additionally, legislative reforms need to be underpinned by budgetary allocations and monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure implementation. Realisation of women’s rights is hampered by the high cost of legal fees for cases such as divorce, inheritance, domestic violence and claiming child maintenance. Free legal aid to women is rare, provided mainly by civil society organisations.
Weak Political Will & Accountability
There is now widespread African and global consensus that gender inequality is a violation of human rights, undermines development and progress. The slow Ratification, domestication and implementation of the treaties and policies continue to deny women and girls comprehensive rights including the right to partake in political processes, social and political equality with men, reproductive health and rights, and an end to harmful practices. The domestication and enforcement of the provisions of the various national, regional and continental policies remain a key priority.
Gender gaps, biases and stereotypes in education.
There is a gender gap in the performance of girls and boys at secondary school in most African countries due to the dual role of girls as learners and care givers. While women constitute the majority of teachers at primary school level, the gender balance shifts at secondary school level. Research shows teacher biases towards encouraging boys to participate and answer questions more than girls - especially in maths and science. Women and girls are scarce in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at secondary and tertiary level.
Technology and E-inclusion
The gender gap in ICTs in Africa is 23%. Key factors include availability; affordability; culture and norms (e.g. boys prioritised for technology use at home, online gender-based violence, restrictions to movement and limitations on access to devices);capacity and skills; relevant content; participation in decision-making roles pertaining to the Internet and/or in the technology sector; relevant policies; and/or other systemic barriers. Advances in the functionality and accessibility of social media are providing new opportunities for women’s rights and equality movements to organise and campaign for change. However, more than 70% of people who have reported being abused on the Internet during the past decade have been women.
